Till You're Light as a Feather (Dusti)

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Upon Apparating into Hogsmeade, Ginny had been reminded that she really should have kept a list of the weekends that were scheduled for the students' visits into the village. Albus and Lily must have been somewhere around Hogsmeade, too, though she hadn't had any plans to intrude on their first taste of precious freedom from the castle for the year. She had come there solely to run errands, although it was much more difficult with crowds of kids around.

She had entered the shop and found what she needed without issue, and it wasn't until she had gotten in the queue to pay for her quills that Ginny had realized just how many other customers there were. Although most appeared to be of school age, they had been polite enough not to interfere with her shopping.

Although she hadn't had to sign any autographs or the like yet, Ginny had learned to be prepared for the possibility. It was strange to her that she was often recognized for accomplishments that she had been told that she had achieved, even if she couldn't fully remember them. She tried to go about her business unnoticed, for that reason, though she found herself turning her head to look at the young woman who was lined up behind her.

@dusti

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Dusti was pretty particular about her quills and ink. So, upon this Hogsmeade visit, she knew she needed to stop at the small shop and get a few bottles of ink and a new quill or two. It was a pretty quick stop though, so Dusti had told Albus that she'd catch up to him in a few minutes, swiftly kissed him, and took off.

The store was busier then she'd expected, but she ignored all the other customers. She knew what she was here for, and she wouldn't get off track. She snatched up the bottles and pair of quills, and headed for the cashier, hoping to get there before a line formed. Unfortunately she wasn't fast enough. Letting out an annoyed sigh, she stepped into the line and looked away from the older woman in front of her, trying to focus on anything except for the other people. Dusti just... didn't deal well with people, especially in crowded stores where there was a high chance of being touched. She was fine with her friends touching her, but strangers? Yeah, she didn't like it one bit. Even accidentally being bumped into usually got a riled up reaction from her. The girl was just naturally defensive, and immediately thought the worst possible outcomes before she considered innocent accidents. It was hard to ignore that mass of red hair in front of her though, and she found herself glancing out of the corner of her eye at the back of the woman's head. She wasn't looking this way at all, so she didn't know who it was, but red head around here? Well half the time, it meant they were a Weasley. While One of those stolen glances, the woman turned and looked back at her.

It was Ginny Potter.

Albus' mother.

Immediately Dusti squirmed uncomfortably inside. Dusti had been good friends with Albus since first year. Hell, she was now dating him. But not once in their years of friendship had she ever met his parents in person. She'd never come around during summer vacations. Never met them on the train platform. Never met them at school or Hogsmeade trips. Nothing. But here she was, stuck in line behind Al's mother, with Mrs. Potter looking at her, and she could't pretend she hadn't noticed it. Pursing her lips together into a tight thin line, she averted her eyes again. "Mrs. Potter." She muttered softly as way of awkward greeting. Making it known that Dusti knew who she was, but her body language didn't really make it seem like she was that interested in continuing a conversation past that. All the while, she was begging in her mind that the old hag arguing with the cashier about prices would hurry up so the line could start moving.

@ginevra

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The young woman behind her in line recognized her, though she said no more than her name in acknowledgment, referring to her as “Mrs. Potter”. Sometimes, it still caught Ginny off guard to hear herself being referred to as a missus anyone, much less a missus Potter. With decades of her memory gone, it took her a moment to acknowledge that the rest of the world had known her as “Mrs. Potter” for about twenty years.

“Yes?” Ginny asked, half-expecting that the girl was going to ask her to sign something for her or tell her about how she had inspired her to start playing Quidditch. She didn’t mind being an inspiration for young girls, and that wasn’t the issue at all; it was having to answer how she had done something or felt upon some victory that she—at least in her mind—hadn’t experienced. She had been there and done those things, obviously, or people wouldn’t have brought them up, but she felt like a fraud for saying anything about it. (Playing for the Holyhead Harpies must have been quite a ride, though, from all that she had gathered.)

Pausing to see how the pricing dispute that was holding up the rest of the queue was going, Ginny turned to look at the young woman again. She must have been about sixteen or seventeen, old enough to know any of her children. That was possible, too. “Er, can I help you?”

@dusti

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Be civil, Dusti. Just, be civil. Keep those snarky, and sarcastic responses back, and don't act like how she acted around all adults Mrs. Potter's age. But it was so blasted hard! Mrs. Potter was younger then her own parents, but not by much. And Dusti's issues with adults general stayed around adults near her own parents' age. But, this was Al's mother! She needed to at least be... slightly less defensive.

Dusti thought the 'greeting' would be enough to get over the awkward staring they'd both been doing, but it only seemed to confusing and capture the older woman's attention even more. Eyes still focused on basically anything but the redhead, Dusti let out a breath at the first 'yes', choosing to not response. She hadn't been asking anything after all! Out of the corner of her eye she saw the older woman look away and let out a sigh of relief. Maybe she'd just move on, and ignore her. Only a moment after Dusti stopped averting her gaze, Mrs. Potter looked back, and the blonde froze for a second. When her body finally moved once more she slowly looked at the older woman, no smile or even real emotion on her face present. "You were looking at me first, it was a greeting." That came out slightly on the snippy side, and Dusti mentally kicked herself. Stupid, she was trying not to do that!

@ginevra

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Ginny hadn't meant to come off as rude, but she must have done something to irritate the young woman, for her response was curt. It probably didn't help matters that they were waiting to pay for their respective items and leave the store, nor did it help that that wait was beginning to drag on.

“Sorry,” she apologized, wanting to clear things up with the girl. It wasn't uncommon for her to be forceful, but, this time, it was unintentional. Ginny wasn't angry that someone had wanted to say hello to her, and she didn't want the rest of the shoppers who were purchasing quills to get the wrong impression. “I didn't mean to stare,” she added, although she didn't think that she had been staring, to begin with.

“Thanks for saying hello,” Ginny nodded, kicking herself for not knowing the girl's name. It wasn't exactly out of the realm of possibility that she should have known who she was. There was a chance that she was expecting to be addressed by name and was feeling slighted because she hadn't been.

@dusti

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This really was a terrible way to meet your boyfriend's mother. Seriously. And Al wasn't there to distract the woman or stop Dusti was digging herself into a hole with her usual sarcastic and aggressive comments. Dusti had never been good at conversing with adults.You could blame her parents for that inability to trust.

So, Dusti let out a slow and deep breath, hoping it might stop her from making similarly rude comments if this conversation continued. Which, by the state of the teller, it would. The old woman was still arguing with them and the line hadn't moved. Forcing herself to nod in response, Dusti still couldn't manage a smile. The silence came, and even more awkward then before. Finally Dusti sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. Looking away from the older woman, Dusti opened her mouth to speak again. "You don't know me, just so you know." She explained, only then realizing that Ginny's memory lose wasn't public knowledge. Shoot. "I.... know your son, Al. He told me about it all last year." She finished. Still, she didn't offer her name, or an explanation as to how she knew Al. Or that she was even Al's girlfriend.

@ginerva

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Aside from overhearing the occasional snippet of conversation—or argument, to put it more aptly—that came from the hag who was still disputing some price or another, Ginny's attention was focused on the young woman behind her in the queue. Ginny waited, assuming that the girl would say something else, although it took a while longer than she had expected.

Looking away, the blonde ran her hand through her hair and explained, much to Ginny's relief, that she didn't know her. Ginny wasn't sure why the girl, whose name she did not know, had added that disclaimer. Most people were unaware of what had happened; Ginny wasn't exactly embarrassed by it, but there were too many opportunities to take advantage of someone whose memories had been taken from her to allow that information to become widely known.

The girl appeared to recognize that, too, and she didn't hesitate to explain herself. “I know your son, Al.” Things were beginning to make more sense. “He told me about it all last year.”

Knowing how rarely Albus opened up to anyone—even to her, his own mother—Ginny knew in an instant that he must have been very close to the girl in order to trust her with something so personal. She could feel herself beginning to relax, knowing that she didn't have to put up a front, and smiled. “What's your name?” she asked kindly, wondering. Even though her two younger children were still at school, she hoped to be as involved in their lives as she could, and that included knowing who their friends were.

@dusti

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Dusti really should have kept her mouth shut. That sort of thing.... Well, Albus hadn't told it to just any friends. Only those closest to him would be privileged with the knowledge. Not only that, she didn't actually know how much Al's parents knew about her. How much he'd shared. She was pretty sure they knew the two were dating though. Considering how much time they'd spent together during the summer.

When Mrs. Potter asked for her name, Dusti found her gaze return to the red hair. She didn't mean to, but she had on a very wary and cautious look. Almost... distrusting. Well, Dusti did have trust issues with adults, along with many other issues. But this was still Al's mother... She couldn't hold her to the same standard as her own parents. "Dusti. Flint." Was it Flint? She didn't even know what to call herself now a days. She wasn't a Flint, not really. So what was she..?

@ginevra

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“Dusti. Flint.”

As soon as the young woman spoke her name, Ginny recognized it. There were very few of her children's friends of whom she could actually keep track, though she did know who Dusti Flint was. She had thought that maybe Dusti and Albus were more than just good friends—considering the amount of time that they had spent with one another over the summer—though, with Albus, Ginny could never be certain of too much.

She didn't know much about Dusti; unlike Lily with Adrian Greyback, Albus hadn't ever said much about her. From her last name, she must have been Marcus Flint's daughter. Dusti wasn't as surly as Ginny remembered that Marcus had been, though his reputation for being quite dense had been her first association with him.

Aside from her dismay that anyone had chosen to name their daughter "dusty", Ginny smiled, nodding her head. “Nice to meet you, Dusti.” Dusti hadn't extended her hand for a handshake, so Ginny chose not to move hers. “Are you in Slytherin, then, with Albus?”

@dusti

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Dusti kept her hands to herself intentionally. She didn't like being touched by most people, especially people she didn't trust. It'd been ingrained into her not to trust people, because she never knew what their intentions were. From what she knew about Al's mother, she didn't think the woman would do anything, but it was still a difficult habit to break. The smile of Ginny's was met with the same cool and almost emotionless expression. There was that wary glint as the woman said it was nice to meet her, as if waiting for some sort of back handed comment, but when it didn't come after a few seconds the distrust disappeared once more. "You too." she forced herself to respond, nodding just enough to be noticed.

"Yes." The girl sharply retorted to the next question. "Same year." She added after a split second, as if realizing that that fact might not be obvious. Her gaze flickered up again to the cash register. Well, at least some progress was being made. And by progress, it looked like the manager had finally come up to try and sort out the situation with the old woman. Maybe the line would start moving soon, if they got lucky.

@ginevra

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Dusti answered that, yes, like Albus, she was in Slytherin House. She was also, she added, in the same year as he was. It dawned on Ginny that that meant that she must have shared a dormitory with two of her nieces, as well. Even when she was growing up, her family had been unusually large, but the next generation of Weasleys had only added to the perception that their family bred like rabbits.

Ginny smiled, hoping that she would be able to find some common ground with Dusti. “You must know Ondina and Lucy?” she asked hopefully. Both of them were as thick as thieves, though they must have had a wider circle of friends at school.

@dusti

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Those were not names Dusti wanted to hear. Dusti's expression turned icy for a fraction of a second at the pair of names. Ondina and Lucy. Oh, she knew those two. Along with the rest of their clique. Dusti had never gotten along with any of them. Lucy in particular though... Well, Dusti had hit her earlier this year. If that said just how much they disliked each other. There'd always been drama between the Slytherin girls of their year. Or rather, drama between Dusti and most of them.

"Unfortunately." She managed to answer, though the one word spoke volumes of her feelings for the blonde and redhead. Extreme dislike and even hatred. Dusti didn't even bother attempting to hide the tone of voice. "We aren't friends." Well, Dusti had already made that pretty clear, but just to be sure she'd added the comment. Though, only after did she, again, feel bad about being a jerk to Al's mother. Forcing herself to let out a breath she closed her eyes for a moment, before opening them again. "Mostly just Al, Scorpius, and my sister." She finished, and thankfully sounded at least somewhat civil.

@ginevra

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“Unfortunately,” said Dusti. “We aren't friends.” Opting not to dwell on that, Ginny instead waited to hear what else she had to say. With teenagers, Ginny had learned, there were always multiple reasons behind their behavior, and—if there was some cause for concern—she was sure that Charlie and Percy were on top of it. “Mostly just Al, Scorpius, and my sister.”

Ginny nodded her head. It was strange to hear about her children's friend groups, when she still thought of herself as being barely any older than they were. Her initial thought was that Dusti's sister must have been younger, assuming that she was still in Hogwarts, though she couldn't know for certain. “I was the only girl in a family of boys,” Ginny laughed, though having been the only girl had had its advantages. For one thing, it had made her rather tough.

“Hmm… Do you play Quidditch?” Ginny knew as soon as she had asked the question that it must have seemed out-of-place, though it was mostly because she was reminiscing about her rebellious streak in childhood that caused her to think of it.

@dusti

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Dusti remembered hearing that somewhere. That Ginny only had brothers. But considering how most of the Weasleys, except the Potter kids, shared the last name it made sense. "I have... brothers too." She almost said how many, but stopped herself. Technically she had four half brothers. She'd spent her whole life thinking it was just Raleigh and River, but this year had been... an eye opener to put it nicely.

At the mention of quidditch, Dusti's expression finally relaxed a little. She didn't smile, but it obviously wasn't a bad subject for her. "I'm this years Slytherin captain." A position that surprised many people, until you realized her blunt and aggressive behavior could be used to keep the team in line. Especially with this years players. They needed a firm hand to keep it together. "I play Keeper." She added as side note.

@ginevra

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Ginny smiled a little when Dusti told her that she had brothers, too, though there was something in the way that she had said it that made her sound slightly less than convinced about what she was saying. Chalking it up to nerves, Ginny continued to listen as Dusti explained that she did play Quidditch; she was Slytherin's captain and played Keeper.

“Really? Merlin's beard!” Visibly impressed, Ginny knew that she must have come across in that moment as seeming decades younger than her actual age. “Brilliant!” Since Dusti knew about her memory loss, Ginny felt comfortable with adding, “I, er, played Quidditch for the Holyhead Harpies,” not that there was much on which she could elaborate until the day when she managed to recover her knowledge of the matches she had played.

“Are you wanting to play professionally?” She wasn't sure if she could be of any assistance to Dusti's future career goals, but it didn't hurt to check. Harry must have had some knowledge of who her contacts with the team were; it wasn't out of the realm of possibility for Ginny to be able to put in a good word for her, if nothing else.

@dusti